Denture



Dec. 15, 1953 C. M NALLY DENTURE Filed Oct. 2, 1952 FIG? E4 fi FIG.8

INVENTOR.

( l horles McNally fimzwfiuw ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 15, 1 953 DENTURE CharlesMcNally, Pawtucket, R. I.

Application-October 2, 1952, Serial Mel-312,797

12 Claims-.- (01. 32-4) 1;. This application is a continuation'inpart of my application Serial No. 221-;094;-fi1ed April-14,1951, now abandoned; 1

This: invention 1 relates-to -a -denture 'either' up-:

per,- lower,- or partial; and'amore particularly to the; holding of adenture in place in the mouth.

Many people experience difficultyqin retaining denturesin place in the mouth, which results in considerable discomfort; been attempts to use suction to hold the denture inplacel Various: ways of applying: this suctionhave been utilized-"but have resulted-inonly: partial assistance. It is also found that the gums change inshape or contour byshrinking or other change so that an added difiiculty-is provided if. suctionis utilized along portions where this change rapidly occurs.

Oneofthe-objects-of this inventionis to provide a vsuction bymeans of xextracting air' at" a singlelpointfromcavities on oppositesides-of the denture. andthen k'closing -this opening to retain reduced pressure therein-.-

Anotherobject of theinvention is to locate the suctionmcavitiesalong the molar-ridge area of the gums at a location which is the least likely toxrecede as -the gums changein contourl Another-v object of the invention is :to provide a core for forming the cavity-or recess the denture, andwhich core-may fitany gum by ben'ding z of the-core to accommodate-itselfto'difierent um modelsr 1 Heretofore, there have Another object-of: the invention is to providethe -recesses-in the denture by using-thecore along with the samemannerof procedure'as heretofore has been utilized in providing: dentures. I

With these and-other objectsin ViEW; the inventionconsists of certain-novel :featuresofconstruction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed. out the appended 'claims.

In. the accompanying drawings 1 Figure l is a perspectiveview- Ora-dentureformed in accordance with th-is invention p Figure 2 "is a bottom-plan View of the denture Y shown in Figural;

Figure 3 isia section on line 3--3' of Figure-2 prior to the cover or valve for the suctionopening being positioned in place;

Figure'4-i's a perspective view of a model with the cores positioned thereon and a conduit connectingzeach -core;

Figure 5 is a sectional view showing the denture as beingmolde'd about the-model-with the core positioned thereon;

FigureB is a bottom plan" view of thedenture with the conduitand cores in place;

Figure '7 is a perspectiveview ofa tube which is inserted in the-acres land which connects the cavities of the denture;

Figurer8 is a perspective vi'ew of the'fcover whichis used for sealings'the opening in the tube;

Figure 9 a perspectiverview ofthe: shallow form of teeth which are used in theedenture overthe cavityportion thereof;

Figure 10 is a section on line lU-MflofFig-ur 4 showing the composit'e' formof itlie core;

In proceeding with thisinvention; an impression is takenof the gums the usual manner.- andsent to the 'dentaltechnician: The dental technician then makes a model'of the gums from? the impression; then-he pdsitions' oii'the m'o'del-T the cores with the conduit between; which cores.- serve to' provide the'c'avities-desired in the olenture and then makes up a waxform of denture"with-i= the teeth in place; and'sends it tome-dentist for trial with the cores and cdnduit iin the wax as:=

shown in Figure 6. If the wax fOrm lssatiSfactory, the final denture'is'formhddrbzh theusuar material.

The cores which are utilized-comprisedeform able obj ects whichmay be made of lead or'some easily bendable materialawhich may; be bent 'to the shape of the gums desiredz Likewisejia'cone'" duit which connects thesepbject's'is'ofa bendable" material so that it" may he bent to' follow-the" :ridge of the gum.- These? cores are placed upon With reference to-the=drawingsw l0 designates the model whicnis {armed-ironithe impression--- taken of the gums and substantiall-y' reproduces-- the gums upon which the denture is to fit, these reproduced gums being designated -l The insert which is designated as-a-whole-1i comprises' enlarged, cavity-forming-i3 which are usually formed ofdefprmable material such -as lead 33 -and rubber-34 so astmaccurately fit the gum model ll. Agcondui-tgportion-44 also ofde formable material and which is a tube connects? the two cores l3, I3-and is ofsuch shape that it.

may be bent toaccuratelflfitdheedge Ufa-13W gums 7 A recess-forming part #54 t l also be carried by the conduit l4. Thesemoresi' so constituted are then-placed upon the gum model ll witha conduit connecting the'in'g' as? shown in Figure 4."

The next step is to mac w-s portion and'core of the iii'oiiel ifi elfrhni hei pression takenjas s'howm i'th th *tet en There is 2' formed, and this wax model with the insert 12 comprising the tube l4 and cores I! in place as shown in Figure 6 is tried in the mouth and if found correct, then the denture is made from this mold by molding the usual denture-forming material about the gum portion and insert l2, as shown at IS in Figure 5. Then the cores I3 are removed to leave the cavities l1, l1 formed in the legs I8, l8 of the denture with the conduit 14 connecting these cavities I! (see Figure 2). The portion l provides an opening as at 20 in the denture. Opening 20 is located to expose a hole 22 in the tube. The opening 22 is controlled by means of a flap valve 24 which may be a piece of pliable, thin sheet rubber material attached in position by embedding one marginal edge thereof in the stock at one side of said opening and extending therefrom over said opening to close the same.

In use, the denture is placed in the mouth and by a sucking action about the opening 20, air will be withdrawn from the cavities H, which sucking action will also have opened the valve 24, so that the pressure is very much reduced in the cavities, causing them to tightly hold against the gums. After the said withdrawal of air from the cavities, the valve 24 may then be moved toward the opening 22 to close the same as by being pushed by the tongue to engage against the stock at the sides of the opening 22. The atmospheric pressure acting against the valve 24 will tend to maintain the said valve in the closed position to hold the reduced pressure in the cavity to cause the denture to be held in place by atmospheric pressure acting thereon.

These cavities are preferably located so that they will come along the molar area ridge of the gum where there is the least likelihood of contraction due to changing of the gums.

The teeth 25 are usually embedded to extend a substantial distance into the gum portion of the denture [6, but at the location of the cavity ll, the teeth 26 are formed much shallower so as to allow for a larger cavity to be provided, that increased suction may be formed.

I claim:

1. An artificial denture having legs, means for holding the denture in place on the gums comprising the legs of the denture being provided with cavities in the gum-contacting side thereof along the molar ridge-engaging portion, an arcuate tube embedded in the denture connecting the cavities and provided with an opening along its length, said denture having a recess about said opening, a covering valve closing said opening to sustain a partial vacuum created in said cavities.

2. An artificial denture as in claim 1 wherein the teeth of the denture along the cavity portions of the denture are sufficiently shallow to avoid entering the said cavities.

3. An artificial denture as in claim 1 wherein there is one cavity only in each leg of the U of the denture.

4. An artificial denture as in claim 1 wherein there is one cavity only in each leg of the U of the denture and a single opening is provided in the tube.

5. The method of forming a denture which comprises positioning deformable cores and a connecting tube on a model, forming the gum portion of a denture about said model cores and tube so as to embrace and embed the tube therein, removing the cores while retaining the tube in place to leave cavities at the end of the tube.

6. The method of claim 5 which additionally comprises using a tube having a center opening intermediate its ends and positioning a covering valve over said opening.

7. An artificial U-shaped denture having legs provided with cavities in the gum-contacting side thereof along the ridge-engaging portion, an arcuate tube embedded in the denture connecting the cavities and provided with an opening along its length, a recess in the denture about said opening, and a Valve means for controlling said opening, said valve means being operable to open position by a suction action thereon and maintained in the closed position by atmospheric pressure thereon to sustain a partial vacuum created in said cavities.

8. An artificial denture as in claim 7 wherein said valve comprises a piece of pliable, thin sheet material having one marginal edge thereof embedded in said denture at one side of said opening and extending therefrom over said opening to close the same.

9. An artificial denture as in claim '7 wherein said valve comprises a piece of pliable, thin sheet rubber material having one marginal edge thereof embedded in said denture at one side of said opening and extending therefrom over said opening to close the same.

10. The method of forming a denture which comprises positioning cores and a connecting tube on a model, molding a wax denture with artificial teeth set therein about the cores and tube for trial and thereafter maintaining the same teeth, cores, and tube in their relative position, withdrawing the wax therefrom, molding the final denture about the teeth, cores, and tube so as to embrace and embed the tube therein and thereafter removing the cores while leaving the Eube in position to provide cavities in the denure.

11. The method of forming a denture which comprises positioning deformable tube and cores on a model, shaping the tube and cores to fit the model, molding a wax denture with artificial teeth set therein about the cores and tube for trial and thereafter maintaining the same teeth, cores. and tube in their relative position, withdrawing the wax therefrom, molding the final denture about the teeth, cores, and tube so as to embrace and embed the tube therein and thereafter removing the cores while leaving the tube in position to provide cavities in the denure.

12. The method of forming a denture which comprises positioning deformable cores on a model at spaced locations with one adjacent each end of the model, shaping the cores to fit the model, thereafter molding material about the cores and then removing the cores at the ends of the model to form spaced cavities at the ends of the denture.

CHARLES MCNALLY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 963,541 Galloway July 5, 1910 2,115,939 Brown May 3, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 111,545 Great Britain Dec. 6, 1918 

